Gearing for washing-machines.



w. J. scnoowovm. GEARING FOR WASHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.6. I917- 1,260,718. 4 Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I I W. J. SCHOONOVER. GEARING Fan WASHING MACHINES.

v APPLICATION FILED AUG-5, I917 A 1 ,260,71 8. Patented Mar. 26, 1918;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' [:H 3 a o i WM" 53 means- WILIIAM J. SCHOONOVER, F BELVIDERE, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

GEARING non WASHING-MACHINES.

Patented era. as, rare.

' 0riginal application filed November 14, 1911, Serial No. 660,310. Renewed May 7, 1917, Serial No. 167,066.

- Divided and this application filed August 6, 1917. Serial No. 184,546. 7

\ To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J. SGHOON- OVER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Belvidere, in the county of Boone and State of Illinois, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements-in Gearing for Washing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to that class of gearing devices adapted for use in connection with a washing machine of the type having an agitator on top designed to have an alternating motion applied to it, and my object is to provide a gearing device of this kind, of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, inewdaiglaathe main power shaft is located beneath thetub, where it may be operated either by a motor below the tub or in any other suitable .manner, and in which the means for operating the agitator shaft are positively driven by means of shafts and pinions so arranged that they will transmit the power without lost motion and will be strong and durable.

My invention consists in certain details in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,--

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a wash ing machine and wringer provided with a gearing device embodying my invention;

35 Fig. 2 shows a similar view taken from a point. at right angles to that at which Fig.

1 is taken;

. Fig. 3 shows a top or plan view of same; and

v Fig. 4 shows an inverted plan view of the washing machine and the gearing device applied thereto.

My present application is a division, directed' to the washing-machine gearing solely, of the combined washing-machine and wringer gearing shown in my application No. 660,310, filed November 14., 1911, and renewed May 7, 1917, No. 167,066.

Referring to the. accompanying drawings,

I have used the reference numeral 10 to dicate the washing-machine body having a hinged cover .11 and being mounted on the supporting legs 12. Between the supporting legs are the cross braces 13. Mounted in the hinged cover is the customary agitator shaft 14 having a pinion 15 thereon.

Secured to the washing-machine body is a wringer frame 16 of ordinary construction provided with wringer rolls'17, one roll being provided with a shaft having a bevel pinion 19 thereon. All of the parts just described are'of the ordinary construction and of themselves form no part of my present invention.

My improved gearing device comprises a' main power sha t 20 mounted beneath the washing-machine body in the brackets 21 and 22, which are provided with suitable bearings for said shaft. The bracket 21 is also provided with a vertical bearing 23 having an extension 24 having a bearing 25 for the endof the shaft 20, and said bracket 22 is also provided with an extension 26 having a vertical bearing 27 for an upright shaft. Mounted beneath the washing-machine body is an electric motor 28 having a pinion on its armature shaft in mesh with a large pinion 30 fixed to the shaft 20 so that the shaft 20 may be continuously rotated in one direction by said motor.

To provide for imparting to the pinion 15 an alternating rotary motion, I have mounted on one end of the shaft 20 a small bevel pinion 31, and in the bearing 27 I have mounted an upright shaft 32. A large bevel gear wheel 33 is fixed to-the shaft 32 and 7 arranged in mesh with the pinion 31. At the upper end of the shaft 32 is a crank arm 34, and pivoted to this crank arm is a rack bar 35 in mesh with the pinion 15. The shaft 32, journaled at its upper end in the bearing 29, is arranged on the'tub on the side thereof adjacent to the hinges of the,

vided to hold the rack bar in mesh with the pinion 15 when the machine is in use.

For the purpose of providing for throwing the shaft 32 into and out ofgear with the shaft 20, I have mounted on the shaft 20 a sleeve 36 slidingly and non-rotatably.

mounted, and having an annular groove 37 at one end and a clutch member 38 at the other end. This clutch member 38 is designed to coact witha second clutch member 39 which is mounted in a bearing in the bracket 22 and which has the pinion 31 fixed to it. A rod 40 is mounted in the an nular groove 37 and is also supported in a bearing 41 secured to the under surface of the tub. This rod, as may be seen in Fig. 4, has one end connected to a crank arm 42 fixed to an upright shaft 43, which upr ght shaft 43 is prov1ded with a handle 44 at its upper end, and'said handle is arranged to engage with the notched plate 45 so that 1t may be held in various positions of its ad'- justment, said plate 45 being fixed to the wringer frame 16. By this, arrangement it is obvious that a manipulation of the handle 44 will serve to move the clutch member 36 into or out of engagement with the clutch member 39.

As I do not herein claim the associated wringer mechanism, it is unnecessary to describe its construction and mode of opera tion, all of which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the drawing.

Gne of the chief advantages of my invention is that the device is not only of extremely simple construction but that, it is also durable. No belts are employed for transmitting power from the main power shaft to the agitator. Two brackets on the bottom of the machine support the horizontalpower shaft, as well as the vertical shaft for operating the agitator. The clutch device for controlling the mechanism is arranged on the main power shaft and is connected direct to the lever arranged on the wringer frame, where it is readily accessible by the operator.

There is no complicated or cumbersome mechanism near the top of the tub, nor near the wringer, that is likely to become caught or entangled in the clothes.

I am aware that heretofore gearing devices have been provided by which the same ultimate result was attained in so far as imparting motion to the agitator shaft is concerned, but I am not aware that any similar arrangement of gearing devices has ever been provided for accomplishing these results, nor has any gearing device been provided heretofore of such simple, durable and positively acting mechanism as that herein shown and described.

is capable of modifications, and that I do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims except as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a device of the'class described, the combination with a tub, of a reciprocating shaft mounted therein, a horizontal driving shaft below the tub, a vertical driven shaft outside the tub, a clutch sleeve splined on the horizontal shaft, a bevel pinion loose on said horizontal shaft, a bevel gear Wheel on the vertical driven shaft, means operable at a distance therefrom for shifting the clutch sleeve to start and stop the vertical shaft, and connections between the vertical shaft and the reciprocating shaft to transform the continuous rotary movement of the vertical shaft to the reciprocating movement of the reciprocatin shaft.

2.,In a device of the c ass described, the

combination with a tub,.of a reciprocating,

shaft mounted therein, a horizontal drivin shaft below the tub, a vertical driven sha t outside the tub, a clutch sleeve splined on the horizontal shaft, a bevel-pinion loose on the horizontal shaft, a bevel gear wheel on the vertical driven shaft, means operable from the top of the tub for shifting the clutch sleeve to start and stop the vertical shaft, and connections between the vertical shaft and the reciprocating shaft to transform the continuous rotary movement of the 'vertical shaft tothe reciprocatin movement of the reciprocating shaft, sai means comprising a sliding bar engaging an annular groove in the clutch sleeve, a vertical rock shaft, an eccentric arm carried by the rock shaft connected to the end of the sliding bar, and means for securing said rock shaft in either of two positions.

3. In .a device of the class described, a drlvlng mechanism comprising a horizontal shaft, a bevel gear loosely mounted on said shaft, a clutch member splined to said shaft and adapted to clutch said bevel gear, a vertlcal shaft, a bevel gear secured on the lower end of the vertical. shaft to mesh with the said first-mentioned bevel gear, a crank pin on the upper end ofsaid vertical shaft, a vertical reciprocating shaft, a gear there on, and a reciprocating member connected to the crank pin and operating the gear. 4. In a device of the class described, a

shaft, a clutch member splined to said shaft and adapted to clutch said bevel gear, a vertical shaft, a bevel gear secured on the lower end of the vertical shaft to mesh with the said first-mentioned bevel gear, a crank 5 pin on the upper end of said vertical shaft, a vertical reciprocating shaft, and gearing connecting the vertical reciprocating shaft with the crank pin to transform the continuous rotation of the crank pin to the WILLIAM J. scnoonovm. n s] Witness JOHN HOWARD MoELRov.

Copies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. 0.? 

